February 15, 2007
Philippines to conduct strict surveillance of high-risk bird flu areas
The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) will keep a close watch to areas vulnerable for avian influenza (AI) every six months to ensure that the country will remain free from the dreaded virus, reports the Business Mirror daily.
Among the high-risk areas identified by the DA are the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Nueva Ecija.
Bulacan and Pampanga, the connecting areas of the Candaba swamp, will be the major focus of surveillance, training and conduct several influenza-related studies by the DA. The swamp is considered high-risk because of the possible close interaction of domestic poultry with wild birds.
The DA inaugurated the fully equipped Regional Avian Influenza Diagnostic (RAIDL) Laboratory in Pampanga on Tuesday.
The department said Pampanga was chosen as the pilot site for AI laboratory because Central Luzon is one of the perilous areas for the AI virus, given the large concentrations of both commercial and backyard poultry as well as transient migratory birds in the region.
The RAIDL, which has the capacity to conduct rapid tests to determine the presence of the AI virus in birds, complies with international standards in containing and handling infective microorganisms with moderate individual risk and low-community risk.
The DA also has an avian influenza protection program that seeks to assess the possible risks of the bird flu to animals and humans in the country through a live bird market study and documentation of bird selling, transporting practices and sourcing of live birds in high-risk areas.
Since September 2006, experts of the program have collected 6,115 samples in 146 municipalities in the high-risk areas of Pampanga (3,461 samples), Bulacan (2,299 samples), Tarlac (175 samples) and Aurora (180 samples). Samples will also be collected in 45 selected barangays of Bataan, Zambales and Nueva Ecija.
The Philippines is one of only three countries in Asia that remain free of bird flu. The two others are Singapore and Brunei.
